Kyukyu VoiceTra translates for ambulance crews across Japan

AI system

System: Kyukyu VoiceTra (救急ボイストラ): multilingual speech-translation app for ambulance crews built on NICT's VoiceTra engine, 15 languages, 46 fixed phrases
Model: Not assessed
Release: Not assessed
Application developer: NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) with the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and its Fire Research Center
Role: Not assessed
Configuration: Not assessed
Inputs and outputs: Not assessed
Autonomy: Not assessed
Workflow: A general-purpose national speech-translation engine (VoiceTra) adapted with domain vocabulary. Fixed phrases for the commonest emergency-scene exchanges, with touch-screen answers translated back. Free distribution by the national fire agency to local fire headquarters.
Human oversight: Not assessed
Relation to AI: The app performs speech recognition and translation at the scene. Fixed phrases reduce reliance on free-text translation. Developer (NICT, a public research institute) and the agency that distributes it (FDMA) are both public bodies. The deploying fire headquarters are local governments. No independent evaluation of accuracy or outcomes is among the sources.
AI contribution: The app performs speech recognition and translation at the scene. Fixed phrases reduce reliance on free-text translation. Developer (NICT, a public research institute) and the agency that distributes it (FDMA) are both public bodies. The deploying fire headquarters are local governments. No independent evaluation of accuracy or outcomes is among the sources.

Benefits

Outcome identifiers: Not assessed
Benefit: From April 2017 NICT and the FDMA provided Kyukyu VoiceTra (VoiceTra with medical terms and 46 fixed phrases, 15 languages) to fire headquarters across Japan; Sapporo used it from February 2017.
Category: Increased Inclusion
Status: Not assessed
Beneficiary groups: People. Organizations.
Beneficiaries: Not assessed
Reach: Not assessed
Distribution and access: Not assessed
Duration: Not assessed
Expected?: Yes
Costs and harms: Not assessed

Measurement

Studies: Not assessed
Study design: Not assessed
Measurement: Not assessed
Setting and sample: Not assessed
Measures: Not assessed
Comparison: the conventional way of communicating with foreign patients before the app (従来)
Results: Result: 従来に比べ、外国人傷病者に対してスピーディーかつ円滑にコミュニケーションが図れるようになり.
Additional value from AI: Not assessed
Limitations: Not assessed
Denominators: Not assessed
Materials for replication: Not assessed

Money

Kind of value: Not assessed
Amount: Not assessed
Currency and prices: Not assessed
Period and unit: Not assessed
Realization: Not assessed
Recipients and payers: Not assessed
Gross or net: Not assessed
Included costs: Not assessed
Comparison: Not assessed
Method: Not assessed
Return and payback: Not assessed

People and places

Participants: Developer: NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology) with the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and its Fire Research Center. Operator: Fire headquarters across Japan (Sapporo Fire Department from February 2017; Ninomiya Town fire service from 2022).
Jurisdictions: Developer: Japan. Operator: Japan.
Ownership and control: Not assessed
Dependencies: Not assessed
Cross-border connections: Not assessed
Geopolitical implications: Not assessed

Follow-up

Conditions for replication: Smartphones available to ambulance crews. Coverage of the patient's language among the 15 supported. Crew training (several municipal pages describe drills).
Replication attempts: 1 follow-up entries. Outcome unresolved: 1.
Later findings: 6 December 2022. Ninomiya Town's fire station announced in December 2022 that it had started operating Kyukyu VoiceTra, a further adoption more than five years after the nationwide release.
Availability: Not assessed
Institutional decision: Not assessed
Grounds: Not assessed
Action and result: Not assessed
Success criterion: Not assessed

Evidence

Source numbers: AIBD-0219-source-0001–0004
Citations: Numbered references below.
Language: Not assessed
Source relationships: Developer, Independent, Operator
Original evidence: Not assessed
Access and versions: Not assessed
Supported findings: Not assessed
Evidence links: Not assessed
Evidence strength: Not assessed
Missing evidence: Not assessed

Grades

Assessed benefits: People. Organizations.
Depth: Not assessed
Reasons: People: No cited source documents an outcome for a foreign patient. The sources describe capability and rollout only. Organizations: No cited source gives adoption counts or usage outcomes for fire headquarters. Ninomiya Town's page records adoption, not results.
Observed or intended: Not assessed
Rubric: Not assessed
Assessor and date: Not assessed
Alternative assessments: Not assessed
Fill: Independently reported

Entry details

Kind: Not assessed
Related entries: Not assessed
Field: Emergency medical services / language access. Ambulance crew communication with foreign patients.
Purpose: Built to let ambulance crews communicate with foreign patients quickly at emergency scenes. The nationwide provision is that purpose, without a documented outcome.
Dates: Date basis unassessed: 2017 (precision unassessed). Updated: 21 October 2026.
Stage: Not assessed
Version: SHA-256: cdb855e8baa2…

References

Other identifiers: Not assessed
Category mappings: Not assessed
Brief: Not assessed
Revisions: 6 revisions. Latest: 21 October 2026.

Sources

Report Developer

総務省 (2017). 平成29年版情報通信白書, 第5節（3）救急用多言語音声翻訳システムの研究開発 (ministry white paper).
News report Independent author

リスク対策.com (8 May 2017). 消防庁、救急隊用15言語対応アプリ.
Press release Developer

NICT (18 Apr 2017). 救急隊用音声翻訳アプリ「救急ボイストラ」が全国の消防本部へ！ (NICT announcement; NICT is the developer).
Press release Deployer

二宮町 (6 Dec 2022). 救急ボイストラを導入しました。 (deploying municipality's page).